Courier’s error in delivering drug package lands coach in jail
A volleyball coach who used courier firm Lalamove to deliver a package containing methamphetamine to a drug abuser was caught after the deliveryman sent it to another flat by mistake.
After receiving the package in May last year, a woman alerted the police, who managed to track down Marvin Chew Xuan Han. He was suspended from coaching three months later.
The 37-year-old Singaporean was yesterday sentenced to two years' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of drug possession.
He also admitted to two drug consumption charges.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh said a man identified as Joo Jian Beng, 35, had earlier arranged for Lalamove to pick up a package of drugs from Chew's home.
The firm's deliveryman was then supposed to take it to Joo's home on the fifth storey of a block of flats.
At around 5.30pm on May 4 last year, Chew handed a paper bag containing the narcotics to the deliveryman and paid him $12 to perform the task.
Joo was notified by Lalamove later that day that the package had been delivered even though he did not receive it.
He called the deliveryman, who said he might have delivered it to a unit on the sixth storey by mistake.
NEIGHBOUR
Joo went to the flat and asked its occupant to return it to him. She refused and called the police instead.
Joo has been dealt with in court and sentenced to one year in jail for drug-related offences.
Officers arrested Chew four days later. His urine sample was found to contain traces of methamphetamine.
He was charged in court and out on bail when the police rearrested him on Oct 11 last year. Court documents did not disclose the events that led to this second arrest.
The authorities tested his urine sample, which was again found to contain traces of methamphetamine.
On Thursday, Chew was offered bail of $15,000 and ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on Nov 5 to begin serving his sentence. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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